love tears…

Hi Tonya.

when i heard the news about Aunt Susie i was just shocked. Both Uncle Gene and your mom have touched my life so much. There are so many WONDERFUL,WONDERFUL, childhood memories that will remain in my heart forever that your parents made possible. Aunt Susie if you are reading this. you have been in my mind and heart always. in these times i am constantly praying and thinking about you. know everyone in the Stergious family is praying for you and missing you. These are beautiful pictures. I look at Uncle Gene and he looks like Grandpa so much. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. i want to save these and put in my family history book. Hope everyone is holding up. Miss everyone. Love Amber

Tonya,
I am truly humbled. All my love, Mom

You’ve said it all Tonya. Thank you for the beautiful photos of Susan & Gene. These are treasures that I will look at over & over again.
Love you,
Sharon:)

There is no doubt in my mind that your mom must be one of the most amazing people on this planet if she raised a daughter as kind, loving, talented and beautiful as you. Your mom is so blessed to have so many amazing people who will be by her side every second of her fight. I have no doubt that she will beat this. I will be thinking of you all often and please let me know if there’s anything I can do!

Tonya,

As I sit here I am in one word: speechless. The beauty in not only your photography but also your words is simply amazing. You have been given a true gift and you are using it to the fullest of your abilities. My heart aches for your family as you embark on this journey. The love you all have for each other will carry you through the roughest of days and and be that soft place to fall when you really need it.

And to your mom, fight hard. You have an amazing family and I have no doubt they will be with you every step of the way. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Tonya, that was SOOOOOOOOO powerful! You re-opened so many feelings from my heart. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer my senior year of high school. It was a long and difficult road…but she is still with us…healthy and strong as ever. I wish my words could do justice to the transformation that occurred in our family as a result of this battle. Although, it was a difficult one for my mom (and all of us) to face, the journey was so sweet….and she would do it all over again knowing what our family gained through the journey of that battle together.

Watching my mom face this battle… with a TEAM of 8 children RALLYING around her giving her constant service, love and support is what made ME realize that I wanted a LARGE “TEAM” of my own someday. There is NO bond of love or strength in the world stronger than the bond found within a family unit. What a blessing that YOUR mom has a strong team of supporters to cheer her on through this difficult time.

We became so united as a family, gained an intense appreciation for her and each other, strengthened testimonies of eternal families, were recipients of service from others, received constant mighty miracles, etc. I understand your feelings of both strength… and weakness…and helplessness.

If only we could see the other side of the trials we face…but I guess that would defeat the purpose…we would no longer turn to the Lord in faith, prayer, and SUBMIT to Him the way we do…and the growth we receive from FACING those challenges would be compromised. You are such a strong woman, Tonya. Your mother MUST be an amazing woman for raising such an amazing woman. Your family will be in our prayers. Heavenly Father KNOWS and LOVES YOU, and KNOWS and LOVES your mom. He HAS a plan in mind…and HIS plan will be the best thing (ULTIMATELY…looking at the BIG ETERNAL picture) for your family. I have ABSOLUTE faith in that! Please let me know if there is anything I can do!
Love you, Kim

wow. tears on this side as well. every time i think of seminary, i think of sister locken. she was exactly how you’ve described her: selfless, funny, and kind. i feel guilty for not being more attentive during class or for truly thanking her for her sacrifice. your post was beautiful and so are the pictures. she is so beautiful and that hair, oh her hair! my heart and prayers are with her. your family is beautiful. each sibling i’ve seen, each grandchild, and your parents. thanks for posting this tonya. i love you sister locken!

Beautiful!!!! Pictures, people, and words!

I can’t believe what a beautiful woman your mother is. My mum beat breast cancer. Yours will too!! I know I am a stranger, living in Australia. But I will pray for your mother & God loves her even more than you do.

Wow Tonya!!! All I can say is you have an amazing way of expressing yourself through words. That is a very special talent that I wish I also had. This shoot is absolutely beautiful in so many ways. I never have really known your mom that well but I am absolutely positive that she is all the wonderful things you say she is. Please let her know that she is in our prayers. My dad went through prostate cancer and every 6 months still takes his shots to keep it at bay. He is doing so good and I know that it’s the people like my dad and your mom that make it through the process so well. Being positive about life, trials and all truly does help one to live longer and happier to boot. Tell your mom that she is an inspiration to me and I hope that I can be as good of an example of positive thinking and selfless service and love to my children and all those I come in contact with. God bless!

Just sending out hugs from very far away. What a touching post, Tonya. I love ya so much and I hope for the best for your mother and your family. Stay strong and keep Heavenly Father in your heart.
Hugs and prayers for you all.

Susan,

What a dear photo shoot that your very talented daughter has done for the two of you. I literally cried through the whole view of the photos and Tonya’s comments. And, for the struggles you are currently going through and will most definitely overcome. You are dear folks that have crossed our paths throughout the years and we’ve shared many things together.

Besides being together at Church, I remember our first experience together outside of Church. We shared the wonderful experience of the growth of our two daughters in Ann’s Parent Participation Play School together. Oh, how we grew ourselves. I remember both of our personal struggles during that time in our lives, besides the daily struggles of raising our families.

I remember our David’s terrible experience of bullies and the visit to Gene’s office and how diligently he had his nurse clean out the wound on David’s knee – it was cleaned several times. I remember Les cleaning Gene’s office for added income for our family. And now our Tonya and Bekah share a beautiful passion in their photography.

Susan, I can truly say that I understand Gene’s side of your recent news, with Les having cancer also. And, I think I somewhat understand what you and Les are going through. Sometimes I feel pretty helpless in my response to Les’ needs. But I know that we all look toward things a whole lot differently than we did before. And, I know the Lord will bless you both in this, yet other experience in your lives.

As Les went through his radiation treatments in Santa Maria, it became a laughing matter as we’d stop off at In ‘n Out after his treatment – when we walked into the restaurant, they’d often say, “and one order of EXTRA CRISPY French fries – they knew Les’ order. Humor is a big key to the healing process. Les even asked them at a treatment if he brought a bag of microwave popcorn to his next appointment if the machine could pop it for him. We’ve often laughed over the tatoo experience he had for the treatments – even though Les said that was the most painful of his experiences. But, in his positive attitude and laughing about things, I just have to remember that he did have his moments where he wasn’t so brave. He mentioned it again the other day, that at the start of his first treatment, as they all left the room, he realized how alone he was and really was afraid, until he looked up at the machine over him and saw a picture of Christ taped to the machine. Don’t be so brave that you leave the family out of your struggles, let them in and let them share in all your experiences with you.

It seems that our lives continue to cross throughout the years. I hope and pray your chemo treatments go well for
you. I love you, Tonya and your dear family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you all. You are a strong, courageous woman. I’m hoping that this blog will be available through your healing process, so that we can stay in contact with you.

With love always,
Doris

Thank you for your beautiful words and photos Tonya…they are breathtaking:) I love you Sister Locken, you are amazing! I’ll never forget how much love and support I felt from you as my seminary teacher, you had a great impact on my life. I think about the good times I had there often. You truly helped build my testimony of Christ as a new convert of the church and I thank you for it with all my heart! Please continue to keep us updated Tonya:) Love, Alissa Miller

About two years ago, when I first started photographing weddings, I stumbled upon your website when I was looking for inspiration. I visit it several times a week now. Not only are your photos inspiring, but so are your words. I just wanted to say that you have people praying for you and thinking about you here in Pennsylvania. Now I’m going to call my mom….

Tonya, Praying for you Mom and Dad and ALL of your lovely family during this time. May the Lord strengthen you and hold you close.

Oh, Tonya, what a beautiful post. It brought serious tears to my eyes, as it reminds me so much of my mom, and all she has done for me and my 5 siblings. How odd that we both are from a family of 6 kids and we both have amazing parents, and we both have moms who are going through a trial we never thought would come.

I have a few people in my life who have gone through breast cancer, and all have said that a positive attitude is everything. It looks like your beautiful mom has that covered. On those days that she just wants to hang her head low and cry, tell her to keep a photo album close by of all the people whom she has touched immeasurably. Looking at those faces will hopefully remind her of what she has to look forward to, and push her to go forward and fight that dumb cancer with every inch of her being!I pray for her strength, and for her complete healing.

Thanks so much for sharing this.

God Bless you and your family!

~Ronee

I was so touched by this entry. Sending good thoughts and prayers your way from Boston.

Your words of your mother’s strength and the photos say volumes about her character ~~ and yours as a result of her being your mother … i have been precisely where you are — and i so deeply feel your pain and understand every emotion you describe —- know that you all are in my prayers. your blog reminds me daily of the importance of each moment and each person in our lives, how precious they truly are thank you.

I will be praying for your beautiful mommy & Sweet daddy, as well as you and the rest of the family.

I don’t normally leave comments on people’s blogs that I don’t know but I LOVE your work and your post completely inspired me. Your mother is such a beautiful person and her personality completely shines through her smile. I love these pictures that you took of your parents and even though I have never met them…their love shows. She is obviously an incredible person to have raised someone who can look at this trial as positively as both you and your sister seem to. Good luck to your mom and your whole family.

Tonya, I’m in tears reading this. You have such a way with words, they really touch you inside. Your mom is beautiful and sounds like an amazing, amazing woman. She obviously is an incredible mother because you are such a wonderful and amazing woman and mother. She and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers. (((HUGS)))

What a beautiful testimonial to your parents. They are so blessed to have one another and you as a daughter! Prayers for your mom’s journey through cancer! Elizabeth Smith

After sitting here, reading this, eyes flushed with tears… all I can say is “WOW!” This is the most beautiful and touching shoot I have ever seen! I don’t even know your parents but I can see exactly how in love they, you’ve truly captured it! Amazing and breathtakingly beautiful! I can only hope to ever capture a moment like this!

Thank you for sharing and your mother will be in my thoughts! Praying for a fast recovery!